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Macbook loss of battery life after HD upgrade

4

45cdorm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2009
4
0
Hi guys!

I have a 2 month old macbook pro that came with a 160gb hard drive i had a wopping 6.5hrs of battery life I have recently upgraded my hd to a 500gb SAMSUNG HM500JI and now at maximum charge i only get 3hrs battery life....

Has anyone had this problem? is this normal?

Let me know please.
 
I find it strange cos on the reviews for this HD they say it increases battery life.....

Calibrate my battery? im new to mac but loving so I didnt know you could do this, how can I do it?
 
45cdorm said:
I find it strange cos on the reviews for this HD they say it increases battery life.....

Calibrate my battery? im new to mac but loving so I didnt know you could do this, how can I do it?
Click to expand...
Click the link I provided. Also, more reading on batteries here.
 
I tried this and it has helped a great deal.....when i fully calibrated it it said i had 6.5hrs of battery time but it oscilates a great deal during use...is this normal? for the last hrs its been saying 2hrs...then 2.35hrs then 2.45hrs. then 2hrs heheh......quite frustrating when ur trying to find out if there is a problem with the battery etc.

Thanks for your input.
 
45cdorm said:
I tried this and it has helped a great deal.....when i fully calibrated it it said i had 6.5hrs of battery time but it oscilates a great deal during use...is this normal? for the last hrs its been saying 2hrs...then 2.35hrs then 2.45hrs. then 2hrs heheh......quite frustrating when ur trying to find out if there is a problem with the battery etc.

Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's perfectly normal. Your battery meter shows the remaining time, based on the current load on the battery. As the load changes, so does the estimated time remaining. Remember, it's only an estimate, not an exact value. Calibrating every month or so will keep it as accurate as possible.
 
The 160 GB hard drive you had before would have almost certainly been single platter. Your shiny new 500 GB hard drive definitely has 2 platters in it. Therefore they'll be a noticeable increase in power usage, although probably not to the extent you're reporting.
 
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